The significant inscription found on an old key---“If I rest, I rust”---would be an excellent motto for those who are afflicted(烦恼) with the slightest bit of idleness. Even the most industrious person might adopt it with advantage to serve as a reminder that, if one allows his faculties to rest, like the iron in the unused key, they will soon show signs of rust and, ultimately, cannot do the work required of them.
Those who would attain the heights reached and kept by great men must keep their faculties polished by constant use, so that they may unlock the doors of knowledge, the gate that guard the entrances to the professions, to science, art, literature, agriculture---every department of human endeavor([en·deav·or || ɪn'devə ] n. 努力; 尽力).
Industry keeps bright the key that opens the treasury of achievement. If Hugh Miller, after toiling(
Labor vanquishes( [van·quish || 'væŋkwɪʃ ] v. 打败, 克服, 征服) all---not inconstant, spasmodic([spas·mod·ic || spæz'mɑdɪk /-'mɒd- ] adj. 间歇性的), or ill-directed labor; but faithful, unremitting, daily effort toward a well-directed purpose. Just as truly as eternal vigilance( ['vig·i·lance || 'vɪdʒɪləns ] n. 警戒) is the price of liberty, so is eternal industry(此处意为勤勉) the price of noble and enduring success.